British serviceman becomes 100th soldier killed in action in Iraq

Last updated at 10:41 06 February 2007

The death of a British soldier when a roadside bomb struck a patrol of Warrior vehicles in southern Basra takes the number of UK service personnel who have died in Iraq since the start of hostilities to 131.

Of those, 100 died in action. The rest of the deaths were accidents or linked to natural causes, illness, remain unexplained, or are still under investigation.

Eight British servicemen died when the U.S. Sea Knight helicopter they were aboard crashed south of the Kuwait border, just after midnight. They included five Royal Marines, plus two soldiers and a naval rating serving with the 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery battery in Poole, Dorset.

• Captain Philip Guy, 29, from Bishopdale, North Yorkshire. Married with two children.

• Naval Rating Ian Seymour, an operator mechanic (communications) second class, of Hamworthy, Poole, Dorset. Married with one son.

• Warrant Officer Second Class Mark Stratford, 39, Royal Marines.

• Marine Sholto 'Sonic' Hedenskog, 25, from South Africa.

• Lance Bombardier Llywelyn 'Welly' Evans, 24, of Llandudno, North Wales. Engaged to be married to Rebecca Williams. His younger brother was serving in the same unit.

• Colour Sgt John Cecil, 36, of Plymouth, Devon. Originally from Newcastle upon Tyne. Married to Wendy with one daughter, Paige, and two stepchildren.

• Major Jason Ward, 34, from the Plymouth area.

• Sergeant Les Hehir, 34, of Poole, Dorset. Married with two sons.

MARCH 22

Six British servicemen died when two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters collided over the northern Arabian Gulf at night.

• Lt Philip Green, 31.

• Lt Tony King, 35, of Helston, Cornwall. Married to Sarah with two children, Molly, then four and David, then five. He grew up in North Somerset and was awarded a posthumous Mention in Despatches in the Operational Honours in October 2003.

• Lt James Williams, 28, from Falmouth, Cornwall - originally from Winchester. He was engaged to be married to Sarah who he met at Liverpool University.

• Lt Philip West, 32, of Budock Water, near Falmouth, Cornwall. He was due to be married to Nicky, who works as a nurse at Treliske Hospital, in August 2003. He attended Salford University.

• Lt Marc Lawrence, 26, from Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, and was educated at Chatham House Grammar School and the University of Plymouth. In 2002, Marc became engaged to Elaine Cleaver, also from Kent. They planned to marry in 2004 and make their home in Cornwall.

• Lt Andrew Wilson, 36, from Exeter. Married to Sarah.

All were based at the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, near Helston, Cornwall.

MARCH 23

An RAF GR4 Tornado aircraft from RAF Marham, Norfolk, which was returning from an operational mission, was engaged near the Kuwaiti border by a Patriot missile battery.

• Flight Lt Kevin Main, a pilot.

• Flight Lt Dave Williams, a navigator.

Both were of 9 Squadron.

Also on the same day two British soldiers were killed in an attack on British military vehicles in southern Iraq.

• Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24, of north London. Girlfriend was Katy.

• Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth, 36, from Essex. Married to Allison with two young sons.

Both were members of 33 (EOD) Engineer Regiment, a specialist bomb disposal unit of the Royal Engineers, based at Carver Barracks, Wimbish, Essex.

MARCH 24

• Sergeant Steven Roberts, 33, was killed in action near Al Zubayr near Basra. The soldier of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment was shot trying to calm a civil disturbance. He was from Bradford, West Yorkshire, married to Samantha, and had a child from a previous marriage. He was raised in Cornwall. Samantha branded Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon a "disgrace" after the death of her husband, who was shot by friendly fire hours after being told to hand over his flak jacket to another soldier.

• Lance Corporal Barry 'Baz' Stephen, of the 1st Battalion The Black Watch was killed in action near Al Zubayr. Married, 31, from Perth. L/Cpl Stephen was awarded a posthumous Mention in Despatches in the Operational Honours in October 2003.

MARCH 25

Two British soldiers were killed in a "friendly fire" incident west of Basra. They were part of a four-man crew of a Challenger 2 Main Battle tank and mistakenly fired upon by comrades in another tank.

• Corporal Stephen John Allbutt, 35, from Stoke-on-Trent. Married to Debbi with two young sons, Joshua and Connor.

• Trooper David Jeffrey Clarke, 19, from Littleworth, Staffordshire. Was planning to get engaged to girlfriend Rachel. His family spread his ashes with those of his grandmother, who died while he was on duty.

MARCH 28

A US A-10 tankbuster aircraft is reported to have fired on two armoured vehicles containing soldiers from the Household Cavalry Regiment, part of 16 Air Assault Brigade.

• Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, 25, of The Blues & Royals, Household Cavalry Regiment, from Windsor, was killed in the "friendly fire" incident. He was married to Susan and died three days before his 26th birthday.

MARCH 30

• Royal Marine Christopher Maddison, 24, was killed when a river launch was ambushed on the Al Faw peninsula south of Basra. Marine Maddison was a member of Plymouth-based 9 Assault Squadron.

• Lance Corporal Shaun Brierley, 28, with the 212 Signals Squadron, was killed in a crash in Kuwait. His family live in West Yorkshire and he had one son, aged three at the time of his father's death.

• Major Stephen Alexis Ballard, 33, of 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines, died of natural causes. Married to Lucy and expecting first child. The couple were from Swindon.

MARCH 31

• Staff Sergeant Chris Muir, 32, with the Army School of Ammunition, Royal Logistic Corps, based at Kineton, Warwickshire, died during an operation to dismantle munitions in southern Iraq. He was married to Gillian and the couple had a son, Ben. The family was from Romsey, Hampshire.

APRIL 1

Several members of the Household Cavalry Regiment were hurt when their light armoured vehicle slid down a crumbling bank and overturned.

• Lance Corporal Karl Shearer was killed in the accident. He was travelling in a Scimitar armed reconnaissance vehicle which was on its way to relieve another troop when the accident happened. He was married to Suzie, with one daughter.

APRIL 6

Three soldiers were killed as allied troops swept into Basra.

• Kelan John Turrington, 18, from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. He was awarded a posthumous Mention in Despatches in the Operational Honours of October 2003.

• Lance Corporal Ian Malone, of Dublin, 28, a member of the 1st Battalion the Irish Guards.

• Piper Christopher Muzvuru, 21, of the 1st Battalion the Irish Guards. He was born in Zimbabwe.

APRIL 22

• Lt Alexander Tweedie, 25, was hurt in the accident which killed Lance Corporal Karl Shearer when their vehicle overturned on April 1 in southern Iraq. Lt Tweedie was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment on April 3 but died from his injuries on April 22. He was serving with the D Squadron of The Blues and Royals Household Cavalry Regiment. He was single and originally from Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

APRIL 30

• Lance Corporal James McCue, 27, was killed in an explosion in southern Iraq. He was serving with the 7 Air Assault Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). He was single and from Paisley in Renfrewshire.

When he was younger, he represented Scotland as a junior sprinter.

MAY 6

• Private Andrew Joseph Kelly, 18, was killed in an accident in Iraq. He was serving with the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. He was single and from Tavistock, Devon.

MAY 8

• Gunner Duncan Pritchard, 22, died in hospital in the UK after being injured in a traffic accident in Iraq. He was an RAF Regiment Gunner serving with 16 Squadron, based at RAF Honington, Suffolk.

MAY 19

• Corporal David Shepherd, 34, died from natural causes. He was serving with the Royal Air Force Police in Kuwait.

MAY 22

• Leonard Harvey, 5, a civilian member of the Defence Fire Service, died in hospital in the UK. He was taken ill while deployed in the Gulf. Divorced with three daughters, Leonie, Naomi and Jennifer, he had served with the Defence Fire Service for 33 years, normally based at Wattisham, Suffolk. He was a lifetime supporter of Ipswich Town FC.

JUNE 24

Six Royal Military Policemen were killed by an Iraqi mob at a police station at Al Majar Al Kabir.

• Sergeant Simon Alexander Hamilton-Jewell, 41, serving with 156 Provost Company. The Platoon Sergeant of the Parachute Provost Platoon, known as 'HJ', he came from Chessington, Surrey, and was single.

• Corporal Russell Aston, 30, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire, was married to Anna with one daughter. He was the company physical training instructor.

• Corporal Paul Graham Long, 24, from Colchester, Essex. Cpl Long was serving on his first operational deployment. Married to Gemma and had a 11-month-old son, Benjamin.

• Corporal Simon Miller, 21, from Washington, Tyne & Wear. Cpl Miller was engaged to be married. He had previously served in the Parachute Regiment.

• Lance-Corporal Benjamin John McGowan Hyde, 23, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire. L/Cpl McGowan Hyde was single and was on his first operational tour.

• Lance-Corporal Thomas Richard Keys, 20, from Llanuwchllyn, near Bala in Wales. L/Cpl Keys was single and had previously served with The Parachute Regiment. He was also a physical training instructor who played football in the Army.

JULY 18

• Captain James Linton, 43, died while serving in southern Iraq with the 40 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. He collapsed and died following a training run at a British base in Al Zubayr. He was married with three children and came from Warminster.

AUGUST 13

• Private Jason Smith, 32, a Territorial Army soldier, died while serving in southern Iraq. Death was not the result of enemy action and an investigation is ongoing. He was serving with 52nd Lowland Regiment attached to the 1st Battalion, The King's Own Scottish Borderers. From Hawick in the Scottish borders, he was unmarried but had a long-term partner.

AUGUST 14

• Captain David Jones, 29, was killed in a bomb attack on a military ambulance in Basra, southern Iraq. He came from Louth, Lincolnshire, and had been married for just over a year to Isobel. A Sandhurst graduate, he had been working on civil-military co-operation projects in Basra to reconstruct the city.

AUGUST 23

Three soldiers from the Royal Military Police were killed after an ambush on a military vehicle by gunmen in Basra.

• Major Matthew Titchener, 32, of 150 Provost Company. He was married to Raqual with a son, Matheson, and came from Southport, Merseyside. Raqual gave birth to their second child after his death.

• Warrant Officer Colin Wall, 34, from Crawleyside, County Durham, and of 150 Provost Company. He was married to Trish for almost eight years with an 11-month-old son, Alexander. Colin also has two other children from a previous marriage - a daughter Lauren, 12, and a son Robert, 10.

• Corporal Dewi Pritchard, 35, a Territorial Army soldier serving with 116 Provost Company. He was married to Tracey, and had a daughter Kira aged six, and son Ethan aged one. The family came from Bridgend.